Area residents wary of zoning changes

West Philadelphia residents turned out in droves last night to discuss proposed zoning changes to the Spruce Hill neighborhood. For many of the properties involved, zoning may be changed from C4, a commercial designation with few restrictions, to residential zones, which carry more limitations. City Council will vote on the issue. But the zoning change would afford the community protection from developers, according to Bill Kramer, a member of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. About 100 people gathered in the Lea School Auditorium to question and criticize the policy, which some believe to be a move by the University to force local residents out and take over the area. Others criticized the lack of notice about the changes, complaining that they feel removed from the process. "I think there are a lot of unanswered questions, and very important questions," local resident Sharriff Aly said. "We're talking about a process that gives respect to community members. So when you treat people that way, they don't trust you. Therefore, when you put something up for proposal, they're going to say, 'We don't want it, we don't trust you, and your process is broken.'" City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, who introduced the zoning proposal in committee, delayed its progress last month and called the meeting in response to a protest at a city council meeting. "Tonight, people got a chance to air their concerns and hear from City Planning," Blackwell said. "People will get a chance to submit their own recommendations and a chance to come back finally and talk about what needs to happen, if anything." "People raised questions because it was apparent they felt they didn't know about it," Blackwell added. "Hopefully this is the beginning of knowledge and people will feel that whatever plan we ultimately come up with is their plan." The drop in zoning would tend to lower rents and property values, if it affects them at all, Kramer said. Existing properties whose current uses would be prohibited under the more restrictive zoning would be "grandfathered in" and allowed to continue unchanged. Kramer said he developed the new zoning structure in response to a request from the Spruce Hill Civic Association. "We have nothing to hide," he said. "We've done what we're supposed to do. This is the kind of bill which is for the ultimate better good of the neighborhood." But many in attendance were not convinced. "This does involve with our neighborhood the University of Pennsylvania and its expanding borders," community activist Rev. Larry Falcon said. The area in question is bounded by 38th Street, 46th Street, Market Street and Locust Street. Penn was included in the zoning discussion because it owns property within the area, and all property owners were involved in the process. "I think the meeting was an opportunity for the people who felt they had not had opportunity to comment on the zoning changes," said Barry Grossbach, president of the Spruce Hill Community Association. "Clearly a lot of people were not aware of what was going on." Grossbach commented that the meeting was much less heated than others in the past. "This was absolutely tame, controlled, civil," he said. "I suspect the vast majority of the people who had complaints in that room were not from Spruce Hill," Grossbach added. "Because [Penn is] involved, people assumed the very worst."